Beat by Beat | Jazz NotesJazz Is My Life(Unless It Kills Me)JIM GALLOWAYAsurvey in the 60s claimed that the average lifespan of jazz musicianswas 44 and certainly there are facts to support this. LeonBismark “Bix” Beiderbecke only made it to 28; Clifford Browndied at the age of 25 in a car accident;Guitarist Charlie Christian died of tuberculosisat age 25; John Coltrane hadliver cancer and died at age 40. AlbertAyler drowned at age 34; Guitarist LennyBreau died a violent death at age 43.Another violent death was that of LeeMorgan, shot by his common-law wife atage 33. Jaki Byard, a pianist, saxophonistand teacher who recorded with some ofjazz’s most important figures, was shotdead February 11 in his house in Queens.(Mind you, he was 76 by then!)On a slightly less morbid note SidneyBechet, born in New Orleans in 1897moved permanently to France in 1950and had an international hit withJohn Coltrane“Petite Fleur” at the age of 53, becomingsomething of a national hero in hisadopted country.Some years ago I was playing at La Huchette in Paris and on theway back to my hotel one night what did I hear coming from a latenightbar? Bechet’s version of “Petite Fleur,” more than 20 years afterhis death in Paris (from lung cancer on May 14, 1959 on his 62ndbirthday). Sigh.Continuing the litany: Leon “Chu” Berry, hardly even rememberedtoday, was a big, fat-toned tenor player, killed in a car accident at 33.And some of you might remember guitarist Emily Remler from herappearances here. She died of a heart attack at 32. Jimmy Blanton,pioneering bass player died of tuberculosis at 23, Frank Teschemacherwhose reed playing influenced many of his successors was killed in acar crash. He was only 25. And these are only a few of the many finemusicians who left us too soon.The flip side? If the lifestyle doesn’t kill you, the joy of the musicSt. Philip’s Anglican Church●Sunday, October 5, 4:00 PM | Jazz VespersColleen Allen TrioSunday, October 19, 4:00 PM | Jazz VespersSt. Philip’s Lara Anglican Solnicki Church TrioSt. Philip’s Anglican Church | EtobicokeSunday, November 2, 4:00 PM | Mariachi Vespers25 ● St. Jorge Phillips Lopez Road & Mexico (near Amigo Royal Mariachi York + Band Dixon)416-247-5181 • stphilips.net • free will offeringSunday, November 9, 4:00 PM | Jazz VespersMake Love Songs Not WarDiana Panton Trio (with Reg Schwager& Don Thompson)St. Philip’s Anglican Church | Etobicoke25 St. Phillips Road (near Royal York + Dixon)416-247-5181 • stphilips.net • free will offeringwill keep you going to a ripe old age!One more for the road: In the days of prohibition in the U.S. there wasplenty of “bathtub gin around but good alcohol was hard to find.” Iremember Wild Bill Davison telling me that they always liked playingDetroit because there was a late-night bar where you could get goodwhisky which was hauled from Canada on a skiff under the surfaceof the Detroit River. Sometimes the delivery was a bit late, but it wasworth the wait! And quite often the labels were washed off, not that itmattered too much, because the booze was good.But don’t get the idea that prohibition didn’t ever exist in Canada. Itwas present in various stages, from 19th-century local municipal bansto provincial bans in the early 20th century, and national prohibitionfrom 1918 to 1920. Alcohol was illegal in Prince Edward Islanduntil 1948. Parts of west Torontodid not permit liquor salesuntil 2000. But by and largethe enforcement of prohibitionlaws is a little bit like KingCanute trying to turn back thetide, and, in its various forms,it has spawned drinking songsthroughout the centuries:“Whiskey in the Jar,” “LittleOle Wine Drinker Me,” “ Onefor My Baby (and One More forthe Road),” “What’s The Useof Getting Sober (When You’reGonna Get Drunk Again),”Sidney Bechet“The beer I had for breakfastwasn’t bad, so I had one morefor dessert (Sunday MorningComing Down),” and “GimmeThat Wine,” to name only a few.Meanwhile, getting back to the business of longevity, the mean lifespan for a survey of 33 male symphony conductors was 75.6 years.Moral? Spend a lot of time waving your arms about.I wish you all happy listening – and try to make some of it live.Jim Galloway is a saxophonist, band leader and formerartistic director of Toronto Downtown Jazz. He canbe contacted at jazznotes@thewholenote.com.ChurCh of the InCarnatIonJ azz VespersThe George Marton QuartetSunday Oct. 19, 4:30pmFeaturing Canada’s Foremost Flute PlayerBill McBirnieChurch of the Incarnation, 15 Clairtrell Rd. North York(One block West of Bayview, North of Sheppard)Admission is FREE; donations welcome. Free parkingwww.incarnationtoronto.ca 416-221-7516Featuring some of Toronto’s best jazz musicianswith a brief reflection by Jazz Vespers ClergyOctober 19 at 4:30 pmCelebration of New Ministry between TheReverend Andrea Christensen & the people of CCDP,with Mike Murley (saxophone), Bernie Senensky (piano),Steve Wallace (bass) & Brian Barlow (drums)November 2 at 4:30 pm - AMANDA TOSOFF QUARTETChrist Church Deer Park, 1570 Yonge St. 416-920-5211(north of St. Clair at Heath St.)www.thereslifehere.org Admission is free; donations are welcome.26 | October 1 - November 7, 2014 thewholenote.com
Beat by Beat | Choral SceneShining Light onLauridsenBENJAMIN STEINThis month I will write in depth about twoexciting projects taking place in the comingweeks. First, I will expand on September’scolumn, which included a brief mention ofMorten Lauridsen’s visit to Toronto, which willtake place on Saturday October 25.Lauridsen is a choral giant, one of the fewextant. While England’s John Rutter may stillenjoy a comparable degree of international popularity,I’d argue that Lauridsen music, often asaccessible as a mainstream film score (Lauridsenfounded USC Thornton School of Music’sprogram in film scoring), has a meditative, introspectivequality that is rarely found in Rutter’scheerful compositions.Lauridsen can employ spiky-sounding moderntonal idioms, but more often approaches compositionfrom the angle of choral liturgical music,which tends to value audience connection overformal innovation (the closest Canadian equivalentis probably the late Srul Irving Glick, whoseJewish liturgical music has a similar aesthetic).Not surprisingly, Lauridsen’s music is veryMorten Lauridsenpopular with church, school and community choirs. His most famouspieces combine spacious melodic intervals of fifths and fourths thatgive a distant echo of Sacred Harp part songs, with dense chordalwriting containing the gentlest of dissonances.Lauridsen’s visit to Toronto is a joint project combining theefforts and participation of the U of T MacMillan Singers, OrpheusChoir of Toronto, Yorkminster Park Baptist Church Choir, ExultateChamber Singers and the Cawthra Park Secondary School ChamberChoir. Lauridsen will perform with these groups in a gala concertof his music. There will also be a Q & A session, and a screening ofShining Night, a documentary about thecomposer. For information and tickets,please visit lauridsenevent.com.(For those who would like an earlytaste of Lauridsen’s work alongside thatof other composers, catch the ElmerIseler Singers in their “The Spirit Sings!”concert on October 5.)Harris takes on TCC: October’s otherproject of note is the new directionbeing taken by the Toronto ChamberChoir. The TCC was founded in 1968 byAnnagret Wright, and for over 20 yearswas conducted by David Fallis, leaderof the Toronto Consort, and one of thepre-eminent specialists in early music inthe region.Beginning this season, the TCC hasengaged a new conductor who is alsoan early music specialist – lutenistLucas Harris, who has recently madethe leap from instrumental playing toconducting. He plays regularly withSHININGNIGHT“ the only American composer in historywho can be called a mystic, and whoseprobing, serene work contains an elusiveand indefinable ingredient which leavesthe impression that all the questionshave been answered.”– Nick StrimpleMusicologist and conductorA day with musical mysticMortenLauridsenSaturday, Oct. 25, 2014Morten Lauridsen, the renowned award-winningAmerican choral composer comes to Toronto foran exclusive and exhilarating day-long festival ofhis incomparable music. The Shining NightFestival will include:Gala Concert –Sure on this Shining NightFeaturing Lauriden’s evocative Lux Aeterna andseveral shorter works, including O MagnumMysterium and Sure on This Shining Night.7:30 pm – Yorkminster Park Church, 1585 Yonge St.PLUS• Shining Night Film Screening – 3:30 pmThe highly acclaimed film Shining Night –A Portrait of Composer Morten Lauridsen• One-On-One – 5:00 pmMorten Lauridsen in Conversation – hosted by CBCradio host, Robert HarrisChrist Church Deer Park, 1570 Yonge St.TicketsFestival Pass: (Movie + Concert): General ; Student Movie Only: General ; Student Concert Only: General ; Student $20Sponsored by:Yorkminster ParkB a p t i s t C h u r C hWith the assistance of:For more information or to reserve ticketscall 416-922-1167 or visit lauridsenevent.comthewholenote.com October 1 - November 7, 2014 | 27
